Build to play how you want. Snipe enemies, burn them with your thrusters, command a drone army, discharge your shields, charge up a massive attack, or just smash right through them... there's a way to make it work. Theory-craft advanced strategies from over 80 mods or jump in and build on the fly.

Every game is randomly generated, keeping the fight intense and unpredictable. Take on the campaign or play endlessly.

Challenge Modes: play by different rules to test your skills, unlock special upgrades and dominate the leaderboards.

I am fascinated with the depth, complexity, and interactions found in good action-role-playing-games (ARPGs). However, these systems can easily absorb hundreds of hours just to explore a single facet, and when applied to smaller games, the meaningful interactions and creative agency are often lost. Nova Drift was designed to strike a balance. In quick arcade-style sessions, you fully realize a build from concept to victory (or death!), allowing for rapid iteration or experimentation with new builds.

Many powers in the game, such as Flash Shielding, include both an advantage and a disadvantage. With the right combinations, you can transform these weaknesses into strengths. In this example, Flash Shielding is being used to trigger the explosion from Volatile Shields on collision as easily and as often as possible, followed by Emergency Systems to gain brief invulnerability from further damage.

If you're willing to sacrifice the protection of your shield, you can transfer it to your supporting drones. The Halo Shield burns nearby foes while active. Specialized modifiers are chosen to make this as powerful as possible.

Upgrades in Nova Drift are drawn from a semi-random pool designed to encourage experimentation while still allowing players control of their build. Experienced players can discover ways to manipulate the pool to their advantage.

I'm Jeffrey. I was a video game artist and animator for 8 years before I left my corporate job, learned to code, and threw myself head first into solo game development, which I have now been doing for 3 years. This has provided me the freedom to design and self-direct, and all of the limitations and responsibility that comes with it. Absolutely worth it.

Few can make a game without a little help. Miles Tilmann, co-founder of Pixeljam, will be composing the music and sound for my game as well as handling production.

Miles and I have been through a lot together. We've worked on many of the same projects, survived some rough times in the indie game world, and emerged stronger for it. On this project, I continue to benefit from his 12 years of experience.

Miles has been making music for over 20 years, and has a sizable catalog of work spanning deep ambient to modern electronic, including the soundtrack to my previous game Last Horizon. The Nova Drift OST will be a mix of expansive drones, deep bass, distant melodies and uptempo rhythms. Here's a sample, taken from the trailer:

Another recent single:

I'm pretty versatile, but audio isn't in my skill set. The majority of funds required will ensure the game has the variety and quality of audio that it deserves.

I also need a solid community of players sharing strategies, discussing balance, and making requests. I'd love for Nova Drift to be a "living game" that gets periodic content updates and consistent improvements over time. Regardless of campaign success,pledging gets you beta access in June of 2017, so you can play an early build and help shape the future of the game.

If you want the discography but not Last Horizon, pledge $30 and I'll make a note of it!

Pledges $75 and above will receive exclusive ship bodies with unique drones, an in-game emblem signifying your support, and your name displayed in the "Megabackers" section of the credits.

Pledges $400 and above will have the opportunity to work with the game's creator to design, plan, and bring to life a powerful boss or three-stage enemy in Nova Drift!

$8000 Stretch Goal:

BOSS RUSH, Alternate Boss Battles

Nearly everything in Nova Drift has a bit of a random element to it. It keeps each new play fresh and unpredictable. Right now, major boss fights are the exception to the rule, and I'd love to change that. If we raise $8000, I will add an alternative boss fight to each boss encounter. New major baddies will test player load-outs in unique ways and add an element of surprise to runs. In addition, I will add a Boss Rush Challenge Mode, an optional play mode which will let you fight all bosses in succession while rapidly upgrading your ship between battles.

Risks and challenges

I formed my tiny company in order to live and work simply. I have no employees or bosses and enjoy a low cost of living, which makes creating games relatively low-risk and predictable. However, working alone is a double-edged sword: the responsibility to create quality artwork, design, and code is on me, using only the funds from previous games. This has always been a challenge, but it's nothing new.

I've been a part of more than 25 games including blockbusters with over 40 million users, tiny indie projects, and my own creations. This isn't my first self-directed project, and it won’t be my last either.

Nova Drift will see the light of day one way or another, but with funding from this campaign it can have far better audio, a greater community, and a longer lifespan.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $15 or more
About $15

Extra Credit

Get your name in a special credits section of the game. Includes all above rewards, and the other $15 reward tier (which also includes this one). This was added since the existing tier cannot be modified.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $75 or more
About $75

MegaBacker

Gain access to 3 special in-game rewards: 1) An exclusive set of unique ship bodies with matching drones (cosmetic only). 2) A unique emblem (on the title screen and elsewhere) signifying your super-support. 3) Your name will be be displayed in the prominent "Megabackers" section of the credits. Includes all above rewards.